1987 Toyota MR2 Reviews - Page 2 of 6

1987 Toyota MR2 T-Top 1.6 n/a from North America

Summary:

Faults:

Replaced clutch after the first week driving about 400 miles ownership. (slipping when bought)

Electrical nightmares. Ended up working around it with toggle switches.

Radio was hardly functional. Replaced it with an old cheap Radio Shack radio for the time being.

Muffler hanger broke off, but a new muffler was cheap enough.

Windshield leaked. I put a piece of tape over the seal to fix until I get a chance to fix it permanently.

General Comments:

I never saw an 87 MR2 before mine. I was talking to someone who was a good friend at the time. I told him I wanted t-tops, RWD, and a manual trans. He said he just picked up an MR2, which had all of the things I wanted. I bought the car and had to replace the clutch. It was no big problem; I ended up doing it in a weekend in my driveway.

The engine bay can be hard to work on because it is so small, but there is room. Everything has to be done from underneath, which can make your shoulders sore, but when you are driving the car it is worth it.

I cannot see the car and not smile. It is the ultimate driving machine. The mid engine design makes handling amazing compared to my previous vehicles.

I put a lot of time and money into the car, making it better to my personal driving style. I put a short shifter on it and some other small mods.

The stock 4age is enough to get you going, but I want a little bit more power. I bought a 4age silvertop, which puts out 160hp compared to the stock 4age redtop, which puts out a whopping 110hp. I bought the car because my engine had an intermittent knock, which went away when I tightened an EGR bolt down.

No torque. I originally had an El Camino. Switching from torque to an engine that has no torque was weird, but having a very high red-line makes up for it.

The car has never let me down. The clutch and wiring were just a small bump along the road. I have made many long trips and the car holds up fine, and it keeps up with many newer cars.

1987 Toyota MR2 GT T-Bar 1.6 Inline 4 N/A from North America

Summary:

Faults:

Teeth broken from power window drive gear. (Took me about an hour and a half to pull the door apart and replace the gear myself. An easy enough repair but I had never done it before.)

Broken synchro in 3rd, car pops out of third gear almost immediately every time I shift to it. (Simple enough solution though, skip straight to fourth. After all, you can break highway speed limits in second gear without straining the engine. It sometimes gets a little annoying but overall, not a real problem)

Parking brake didn't work. (turned out I was missing the cotter stud and pin. $1.28 later and ten minutes to run to the local hardware store, take some time to adjust and your good as gold.)

Needs new tires (just ordered Kuhmo KR21's for $73/tire)

Windshield seal had gone bad ($4 for some flowable silicone and about fifteen minutes fixed that)

Needs paint (getting that done professionally, but not yet)

Various trim screws are missing but hey it's been 21 years...

Various interior garnishes are missing but again 21 years later, so be it...

Driver seat is missing the lumbar adjustment lever.

One of the previous owners tried to paint the interior red to match the exterior. However, because she had a black interior originally it ended up purple.

General Comments:

First of all, the comfort is UNBELIEVABLE!!! I drive mine to school 45 minutes each way in stop and go traffic every day, and still love the seats.

Because of the mid-engine, there is an incredible amount of leg room, despite the short appearance.

Parking is so easy. Just in case she wasn't small enough to begin with, Toyota gave her folding side mirrors.

She is such a head turner, I have seen only 2 others in my state let alone my county, so uniqueness is also a definite plus.

You can feel the power slamming you back into your seat all the way from 1000 rpm to the screaming high 7500 rpm (non-limited) redline.

Oh and like I mentioned earlier, you can break highway speed limits in second gear.

Recommended maximum shift speeds are as follows:

1st gear: 37 MPH

2nd gear: 61 MPH

3rd gear: 89 MPH

4th gear: 120MPH

5th gear: Not listed in the manual.

But as impressive as those numbers are, pure speed is not the MR2's purpose in life. Once you get behind the wheel of an MR2, you will live for the corners. On a twisty mountain road the MR2 is in it's element, feeding you every bit of information through the non-power rack and pinion steering, four wheel disc breaks bring the incredibly light car from 85 down to 45 almost instantly, just in time for that hairpin turn which, by the way, you had to take at about 15 or 20 in your other car. Downshift and scream out of the turn already back up to 70 inside of 2 or 3 seconds. Without even breaking a sweat. And the entire time you were held firmly and comfortably in place by the adjustable side bolsters of your stock bucket seat.

Don't try doing that in your current car...

Now this isn't just a comparison to my old Subaru, A few other cars that I've driven include: a 2009 Jaguar XK, a 1983 Datsun by Nissan 280ZX, a 1989 Nissan 300zx Turbo charged, and 1981 and 1985 RX-7 GSL's. So believe me when I say this is one of the most incredible cars you will ever drive short of a Lotus or a Ferrari.